Current Projects
Ai’aoskiikowaata
(providing guidance to youth)
Ai’aoksiikowaata is pronounced “eye ox EE go WA duh.” It is a Blackfoot word that means “providing guidance to youth.” Ai’aoksiikowaata describes the nurturing and direction that youth traditionally received from ceremony and other traditional parenting practices.
The Ai’aoksiikowaata Project aims to support changes the child welfare system so that all young people can receive the care, guidance, and support they need to successfully transition into independent adulthood. To achieve this goal, we need to understand where the gaps are and how it affects people’s lives. For this reason, we have created two studies:
A survey-based descriptive study linking child welfare experiences with health outcomes
An arts-based story-gathering project to learn about experiences aging out of the system.
Funded by:
Making the Shift: Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab
Mapping the landscape of Indigenous child welfare knowledge: A scoping review of research from 1990 to 2022
This expansive scoping review will to assess and synthesize research on Indigenous child welfare in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Additionally, it will identify research that is generated by Indigenous authors, partners, and research paradigms.
Findings are forthcoming in three publications:
Ervin, A., Dirk, A., Odekina, H., Salehi-Shahrabi, F., Luck, C., Greenshields, M., & Victor, J. M. (in review). Care providers of Indigenous children and youth in the child welfare system: A scoping review. Child & Family Social Work.
Ervin, A., Odekina, H., Dirk, A., Salehi-Shahrabi, F., Luck, C., Greenshields, M., & Victor, J. M. (in review). The Indigenous child welfare system and transitions to independence: A scoping review. Children & Youth Services Review.
Dirk, A., Ervin, A., Odekina, H., Salehi-Shahrabi, F., Luck, C., Greenshields, M., & Victor, J. M. (submitted). Psychosocial conditions and factors affecting Indigenous youth involved in child welfare: A scoping review. Journal of Child & Family Studies.
Funded by:
University of Lethbridge, Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities (CREDO)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), (Insight Development Grant)
